Monster Hunter Wilds

the only thing i will say about this is i would recommend this game to anyone ever, but i don't want to make your experience with the other mh titles worse because i believe there is NO bad mh game. i feel like wilds is the fully realised monster hunter, whether the purists and boomers like it or not. as someone whose favorite monster hunter is rise/sunbreak, i just can't help but love this game a lot. even at base game, it already improves the franchise in a lot of ways, and does so pretty ambitiously. the monster roster is genuinely one of the coolest i've seen in the new gen with how much variety there is. i also really like how a lot of things from the previous newgen titles translated so well into wilds. it really shows that every mainline game is made to be its own thing and pushed to the fullest. my only problem is how dumbed down the combat feels, which makes the hunts way easier and kinda boring. VISUALLY, this game looks ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ stunning, and it's probably the most enjoyable monster hunter i've played when it comes to the combat itself, but it's just too dumbed down and removes some of the risk and strategy that older monster hunter games always had. even though the later title updates prove that the game is actually HARD, my initial thoughts on the combat are still the same. it's effortless but hard. the armor and weapon designs are ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ awesome too. they REALLY went all out after sunbreak, and there are so many sets that i just love looking at. the art direction isn't the best either, but it's overhated. i personally like it a lot. people complain that it's too washed out, but i think it fits the environments really well. and about the semi open world thing, i think they did it the best way they possibly could. this game maybe spoonfed you with easier mobility, but it's still basically world but wider and more explorable. i don't think they're ready for a full open world yet, and i don't think monster hunter needs one anyway. the areas in this game are still separated with gateways, but i don't really have a big complaint about that. it still feels like a much more connected world without trying to completely change what monster hunter is. the only other big issue is the optimization. you CANNOT play this game without relying on frame gen unless you have some pretty good hardware, and that's just sad coming from re engine, especially considering how well optimized some of their other games are. it's definitely better now than it was at launch though, and personally i have no issues playing it on a 3050. i hope the switch 2 port also fixes some of these issues. i love this game. i don't think it's perfect and i still prefer rise/sunbreak in a lot of ways as a home for me, but wilds is the monster hunter that realizes a lot of the ideas the series has been building towards. there is no bad mh game, and this game doesn't change that at all. it just happens to be one of the most ambitious and polished monster hunter we've gotten, yet people are still hating on every new thing a long surviving franchise has ever did.